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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20240410 Arts & Culture Commission Minutes Page 1 of 6 Hastings Arts & Culture Commission Meeting Minutes Wednesday, April 10, 2024 – 6:00 PM Hastings City Hall – Volunteer Room 1. Call Meeting to Order Meeting called to order at 6:03 p.m. Present: Commission Chair Hollenbeck; Vice Chair Read; Commissioners Humphrey, McCoy, Tribe, Wagner; Staff Representative Lee Absent: Commissioner Maner Others present: Estrella Carter and Davu Underwood Seru, Building Remembrance for Reconciliation (BR4R) 2. Approval of Agenda Chair Hollenbeck added an item to the agenda regarding her annual presentation to Council about the commission’s progress. She will be sharing her outline and seeking feedback from commissioners. The item will be added before budget discussion (Item 11) Commissioner Tribe motioned to approve agenda as amended; Commissioner Wagner seconded. Motion carried. 3. Approval of Minutes – March 13, 2024 Regular Meeting Commissioner McCoy motioned to approve; Commissioner Tribe seconded. Motion carried. 4. Guest Presentation: BR4R Estrella Carter and Davu Underwood Seru introduced themselves and said they are at the meeting to seek support for their upcoming Juneteenth event, as well as for BR4R in general. Seru said their overarching goal is to appeal to folks to pay attention and remember—and educate about black history by figuring out some way to connect the sites in Hastings with a bigger trail across the state in a uniform manner. He recognized Heidi Langenfeld, the lead volunteer of the city’s Pioneer Room, as the impetus for starting BR4R with her work gathering information and connecting to Hastings history. Seru said that Juneteenth is coming around and spoke of other events that have been held in the city. He noted past events have been well attended by older people and said BR4R wishes to attract a diverse mix of youth and middle-aged folks as well. He spoke of a central principle that guides BR4R, which is going back in order to move the community forward. Seru pointed to the graphic novel “Hate Stings” written by James Curry and illustrated by Tom Nguyen, both Hastings residents of color, as one way to engage local youths in public schools. He would like to find somebody who raps and figure out a way to commission them to tell the story of the graphic novel. Arts and Culture Commission April 10, 2024 Minutes Page 2 of 6 Being in the very early planning stages, they are thinking this year’s Juneteenth event will be held outdoors at a location yet to be determined. Carter noted that last year’s event was held at Artspace. And since Juneteenth falls on a Wednesday, the event will be held on a corresponding weekend. Details will be determined at their next board meeting. Their ask of the commission is support in getting the word out, marketing, contacting arts groups and encouraging them to attend. Carter suggested they may offer incentives to engage. Commissioners said they see this as a great collaborative opportunity between the two groups. They offered to help with connections and contacts at the school district. Commissioners then invited BR4R to its upcoming Creative Convergence event on May 9 and explained the main goal is collaboration and partnerships, and that it would also be a great opportunity to get the word out about their Juneteenth event. Carter said that once Juneteenth event flyers are created, BR4R will share them with the commission. Commissioners thanked them for coming to the meeting and for all their important work in the community. OLD BUSINESS 5. Subcommittee Updates a) Policy & Procedures - Maner In Commissioner Maner’s absence, Hollenbeck reported that she, Maner, and Wagner met and cobbled together some policies—one for donations, the other for acquisitions. Commissioner Read offered to help with art terms. Commissioner Wagner said it will be a long process. b) Finance & Fundraising N/A – currently inactive c) Outreach & Communications - Humphrey and Tribe Commissioner Tribe said they met and went over details for the May 9th Creative Convergence event. More discussion will be had when the Creative Convergence item (agenda item 10) comes up later in the meeting. 6. Update on Google Calendar - McCoy Commissioner McCoy said he heard back from IT and Communications Coordinator Skelly about the calendar. They prefer the calendar does not state it is sponsored by the commission (to avoid setting a precedent, since commissions don’t sponsor calendars), but rather “hosted by arts committee, HPAC, and other organizations”. The city website has a link to the site with the following disclaimer: Arts and Culture Commission April 10, 2024 Minutes Page 3 of 6 Note: This calendar is not maintained by the City of Hastings. For questions related to the calendar, please send an email to hastingsartscommunity@gmail.com. The calendar is now public and is on the city’s website. A text hyperlink to the site and calendar can be found on the commission’s main page under Arts and Culture Commission Resources. McCoy has been working on event posting guidelines. He would like to launch the calendar publicly at the Creative Convergence event and visually walk attendees through how the calendar works and teach the procedures for posting events, descriptions, and other pertinent information. He will also cover the rules and protocols for those who post events. Beyond the calendar, people will be encouraged to list as arts organizations in the directory as well. He will create a QR code so attendees can scan to access the calendar. He inquired about the type of connector he will need to present at the event. Tribe believes the venue has the equipment he will need. 7. Civic Arena Mural RFP - Read Vice Chair Read reported he has not yet completed the RFP. Staff member Lee had sent Hollenbeck past RFPs as guides and reference that she will share with Read. 8. Classical Actors Ensemble for June 30 – Read Read brought director of Classical Actors Ensemble to tour Vermillion Falls, and he was pleased with the venue for the performance. He foresees the performance to take place off to the left or right of the rotunda and was happy with the available parking. The performance they will be doing is Twelfth Night with a fun little twist. Read will submit a proposal to city council for approval, followed by an invoice for payment. The performance is scheduled for June 30th from 7:00-9:00pm, and the park is reserved. Tribe will ask Skelly to promote event on the city’s website and social media channels. The commission will host a table at the event to distribute literature for other arts organizations. 9. Fall Music Event (musicians in Vermillion Falls Park) – Draft name for event Hollenbeck feels the event needs a name, and the group said they will come up with one. a) Performers – McCoy McCoy spoke with the Lockwoods of Hastings Arts Center about performers for the event. They said fall is a busy time for musicians, but they are happy to help with resources and contacts. Commissioners can start putting the word out to book musicians sooner than later. Arts and Culture Commission April 10, 2024 Minutes Page 4 of 6 b) Plein Air – Tribe & Read Tribe is still working to connect with the high school art teacher. She has two art students in mind who may be interested in plein air painting at the event, should the commission go that route. Hollenbeck spoke with Dave Youngren, and he is interested in participating in the plein air aspect of the event as well. Commissioners discussed logistics of the event, such as number of painting stations and configuration of where artists are stationed at the event. They determined there would be a few painting stations set up at a location of artists’ choosing where there is something interesting to paint, while musicians will be spaced out along the walking area. They foresee a mixture of professional and amateur artists. The event is planned for Saturday, September 28th from 1:00-3:00pm at Vermillion Falls Park. 10. Creative Convergence Discussion a) Marketing Strategy – contact assignments – Tribe Tribe had created a contact list for the Creative Convergence event, all of which had been spoken for. Hollenbeck said she announced the event at the Downtown Business Association’s meeting and will share the event flyer with their email list. Organizations that will need outreach are River Valley Band (Read), Chamber of Commerce (Tribe), and the Concert Association (Maner). Tribe will send a PDF version of the event flyer to organizations to send out to their members. Black Dirt Theater will host the event, and their board has approved providing refreshments. b) Outline of Event – Read Commissioners discussed and created an agenda for the event: 1. Wendy will speak about The Studio venue 2. Black Dirt Theater, as sponsor, will say a few works about their organization 3. Commission members will provide an update about what the commission is doing and what’s coming up in the future 4. Commissioner McCoy will conduct an arts event calendar tutorial (QR code that links to calendar will be made available) 5. Activity 6. Networking 7. Open the floor for organizations to talk about their own upcoming events Commissioner Humphrey suggested the activity include asking the same questions that were posed at the last event for the sake of comparison. She will create a QR code to be used on table tents that leads to a Google doc for participants to share their answers. Table tents will also be used to advertise the fall Creative Convergence event. Arts and Culture Commission April 10, 2024 Minutes Page 5 of 6 Tribe will create a giant community coloring sheet with a Hastings bridge image where members each color a piece to create a collaborative piece of art to potentially be housed somewhere for a period of time (library or Artspace). Once provided with the PDF image, Read offered to use a plotter to print. Tribe will talk to the venue about placement for a large image that people will be writing on. Humphrey will create a slideshow to serve as a program for the event. Lee will print the table tents. Commission will set up a table for arts organizations to share literature. The next commission meeting lands on the eve of the Creative Convergence, so any loose ends can be addressed then. NEW BUSINESS 11. *ADDED* Presentation of Annual Report to Council – Hollenbeck Hollenbeck distributed a topics outline of her annual report that she will present to City Council on Monday. Members asked if she’d like help and support. Hollenbeck said anyone can attend. 12. Budget Discussion - Barb Hollenbeck reported the commission has budget allocations of $20,000 from last year, plus $20,000 this year for a total of $40,000. Thus far, the commission has spent $4,000 of that on Dale Lewis sculpture leasing. Forthcoming planned expenditures include: $1,100 for Classical Actors Ensemble $4,000 for lease renewal – Dale Lewis sculptures $2,000 for performers for fall music event Commissioner McCoy motioned to allocate up to $2,000 of commission budget to be used for the yet-to-be-named fall music event at Vermillion Falls. Seconded by Vice Chair Read. Motion carried. $3,000 for artist stipends (as part of RFP process) for civic arena mural $3,000 for bench – Malcolm Trail project (Hollenbeck will email Jenkins for clarity on this) Arts and Culture Commission April 10, 2024 Minutes Page 6 of 6 13. Recap of Action Items • Reach out to contacts for Creative Convergence – Downtown Business Association (Hollenbeck), River Valley Band (Read), Chamber of Commerce (Tribe) • Wagner – send Creative Convergence flyer to Hastings Art Center artists • Humphrey – table tent with QR code for Creative Convergence event • Humphrey – create PowerPoint with flow of evening, with a slide for each organization that speaks • McCoy – talk to Wendy at The Studio about equipment and computer connection for event • Tribe – PDF line drawing of bridge, send to Read • Hollenbeck – annual report to council 14. Announcements • River Valley Band pops concert is on May 5th • Black Dirt Theater’s last day of auditions for Cinderella is Friday • Autism event to be held on May 19th is in full swing with Tribe taking photos and posting stories • Orange Dragon student art show reception is on Friday 15. Adjourn Commissioner McCoy made a motion to adjourn at 7:23 p.m. Seconded by Commissioner Wagner. Motion carried. The next Arts and Culture Commission meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 8th at 6:00pm in the Volunteer Room at City Hall.